A number of dispensers exist in the prior art for dispensing paper toweling, paper tissue, non-woven sheets and like. Some of these dispensers are of the "center-pull" type wherein a web of paper toweling or other sheet material is pulled from the center of a coreless roll through a nozzle or other restrictor element forming a restricted passageway. Assuming that the individual sheets of toweling or the like are connected by perforation lines, as is common, the nozzle or other restrictor element will resist pulling of the sheet material by the user and cause an individual sheet to break from the remaining web along the perforation line interconnecting same. Similar arrangements exist wherein sheets are torn from a non-perforated web, often incorporating cutter teeth or blades to sever a manually manipulated sheet from the web.
While most center-pull dispensers are in the form of hardware permanently attached at their location of use, it is also known to provide what are, in effect, disposable packages which hold and protect the coreless roll product during shipment and storage and also provide a means whereby the coreless roll product is manually dispensed. Upon depletion of the roll product the remaining package may be disposed of or recycled.
The following United States patents are believed to be exemplary of the prior art: U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,495, issued Dec. 16, 1958, U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,816, issued Apr. 21, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,642, issued Apr. 22, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,479, issued Oct. 19, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,047, issued Oct. 16, 1979, U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,129, issued Aug. 26, 1980, U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,221, issued Mar. 13, 1984, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,171, issued Aug. 25, 1992.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,495 is believed worthy of special comment. The patent discloses a dispenser for paper product rolls such as rolls of facial tissue. The dispenser includes a container member having an end wall with a removable portion defined by a scored or perforated section defining an access or central aperture portion in the end wall. An innermost sheet of the coreless roll of paper material has a corner secured to the undersurface of the removable portion to draw the paper material out of the central aperture of the container. In use, the desired quantities of tissue are manually pulled directly through the hole or aperture formed in the container end wall.
The arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,495, while simple and inexpensive, would appear to lack reliability and not function properly due to the fact that the tissue is drawn through an opening defined by the container wall itself. That is, the length of the passageway defined by the opening does not exceed the thickness of the relatively thin paperboard utilized to form the container. Furthermore, the hole itself has a relatively large diameter and does not provide the restriction necessary to ensure proper separation of individual sheets from the tissue web.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,816 discloses a package and dispensing device for a contiguous roll of premoistened toilet towelettes which includes an outer container holding a roll of premoistened towelettes surrounded by a bag. The towelettes are pulled away from the roll through a hole in a sealing and dispensing plate located within the container interior and pulled out of the top of the container. It is suggested that the plate may be either planar or conical. In any event, the plate is thin and movably mounted within the container. The plate only engages the top of the container temporarily when the product is being pulled and removed. Such an arrangement will not have the degree of reliability found in an arrangement wherein a dispenser nozzle is affixed in place relative to the container and defines a relatively elongated passageway for the dispensed product.